Looped cord trimming attachment for sewing machines



Dec. 11, 1956 E. SEAMAN LOOPED CORD TRIMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 6, 1953 Dec. 11, 1956 E. L. SEAMAN LDOPED CORD TRIMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed March 6, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 11, 1956 E. L. SEAMAN LOOPED CORD TRIMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed March 6, 195.5

5 Sheeis-Sheet 5 United States Patent 2,773,462 LOOPED CORD TRIMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Edward L. Seaman, Garden City, N. Y., assignor to S. & W. Sewing Machine Attachment Co., New York,

N. Y., a partnership Application March 6, 1953, Serial No. 340,743 6 Claims. (Cl. 112-100) This invention relates to sewing machines and to attachments therefor adapted to produce looped cord trimmings.

The object of the invention is to provide mechanism in a sewing machine by means of which cord, or cordlike material such as piping or spaghetti, may be laid down on a base material passing through the machine in the form of loops, particularly scalloped shaped loops,

and stitched thereto. Such loops may be mere ornamentation or they may serve as button loop or the like.

Another object is to provide such mechanism in the form of an attachment which may be added to a standard sewing machine without change in its basic structure.

Another object is to provide means for adjusting the size of the loops of cord which are formed.

Another object is to provide such mechanism which is simple in structure, easy to build, install and maintain and requiring no special training or skill'to operate.

Other objects and advantages will in part appear and in part will be obvious from the following detailed description of the present preferred embodiment of the invention, taken with the drawings in which:

Patented Dec. 11, 1956 I 2 Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, a support bracket 22 is attached to the left side of standard 18 of the machine by bolts 24. This bracket carries a rearwardly extending horizontal cam shaft 25 on the rear end .of which a groove cam 26 is fixed. This cam is shown as having a single high point 27 but other forms may be used. The cam is driven from the machine shaft of the machine through driven gear 28 and worm gear 29, the latter gear being mounted on a shaft 30 attached to a drive yoke 31 which is secured by screws 32 to the main shaft of the machine adjacent drive pulley 3.4 and surrounding the stitch length adjustment 35 which is part of the standard machine. Any other suitable driving connection to the main shaft of the machine may be used to rotate cam 26 at the desired speed as the machine runs.

As shown in Fig. 2, bracket 22 carries a rearwardly extending horizontal support 36 to which a vertical plate 38 is attached parallel with and spaced from the rear face of cam 26. Pivoted to this plate intermediate its ends by a shouldered bearing bolt 39 is a cam follower Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of a sewing machine equipped t with an attachment embodying the invention:

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the drive wheel end of the machine as seen from the left of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the opposite or needle end of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a perspective fragmentary view of the needle end of the machine-showing the cord guide in its outermost position and work in progress;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view showing the cord guide as it starts to move inwardly to form a loop;

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the cord guide in its most inward position; I

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the presser foot of the machine, on the line 77 of Fig. 5, showing a desirable modification thereof for the purposes of the invention;

Fig. 8 shows one type of product which may be made by a machine embodying the invention; and

Fig. 9 is an end view of the fabric of Fig. 8 with the base material folded along the line of stitching, the loops protruding from the folded edge.

Referring to Figs. 1 through 4, the illustrated embodiment of the invention is shown as an attachment for a standard sewing machine, the machine illustrated being a Singer Class 151. This machine is characterized by upper and lower oscillating feeding mechanism, which engages the material from above as well as from below, the needle having a forward-and-back motion as well as the usual reciprocation, so that it moves to the rear with the material as it advances, as hereinafter more particular- 1y described.

The sewing machine has the usual standard 10, overhanging arm 11 and head 12, the latter carrying the presser foot bar 14, upper feed dog bar 15 and needle bar 16, the latter carrying the needle 18. The bars 15 and 16 reciprocate in a guide 19 which imparts the forwardand-backward movement to the upper feed dog 20 which acts on the upper surface of the work in cooperation with the usual lower feed dog, not shown. Dog 20 operates between the two sides of a' bifurcated presser foot 21 which has two toes 21a and21b.

arm 40 having a pin or roller 41 which engages the groove 42 in cam 26. It will be obvious that cam 26 rotates with the main shaft of the sewing machine at a speed determined by the ratio of the gears 28, 29. which, for example,-may provide a reduction of 10 to 1. Any desired ratio may be selected, depending on the size of the loops to be formed and also on the configuration of cam 26.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the drive just described operates cord feeding mechanism at the needle end of the machine which comprises a fixed support 44 attached to a bushing 45 by screws 46, the bushing being part of the head structure of the sewing machine. Support 44 has a vertical bore rotatably carrying an oscillating'feed shaft 48 which may be positioned in the support by the collars 49,58. The upper end of shaft 48 carries an arcuate slotted arm 51 which is adjustably connected by wing nut 52 to connecting rod 54, the other end of which is secured to the lower end of the cam follower arm 48 at 55. The connecting rod 54 is constructed in a known manner so as to be adjustable in length by reason of threaded connections at each of its ends to suitable bearing 54a and 54b. It will be obvious that the amount of rotation imparted to the shaft 48 will depend upon the point of connection between the connecting rod bearing 54b and slotted arm 51. v

The lower end of vertical shaft 48 is provided with a horizontal bore in which is inserted the cord feeding arm 56, held in place by screw 58. This arm extends horizontally, thence downwardly and again horizontally to provide an arcuate portion 59 which is flattened and is provided near its end with an eye or hole 60 to receive the cord 61. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 show the shape and the travel of this arm with reference to the needle 18 and the parts of the machine adjacent thereto.

As the machine is operated and the end 59 of arm 56 is moved across the line of stitching by the rotation of cam 26, cord 61 is formed into loops by being drawn around a small adjustable vertical loop-former 62 which is supported from the presser foot by an angular arm 63 which is inserted in a transverse hole in the presser foot 21 and held by screw 64, so that the spacing of this loopformer from the presser foot may be adjusted to vary the size of the loops. Loop-former 62 is positioned close to the base fabric or work, as best shown in Fig. 1, so that cord 61, when swung around it as shown in Fig. 6, cannot get beneath it and hence is formed into a loop the size of which is determined by the spacing of the loop-former 62 laterally of presser foot 21. In fact, the

. preferred degree of closeness to the work is contact there- 3 with. Since the base fabric rests on the work support, the proximity of the loop-former 62 thereto will be evident.

Figs. 5 and 6 show how the loop is formed by drawing the cord 61 around former 62 which thereafter rides over the outer part of the loop as the work moves under the presser foot 21. it has further been discovered that better results are produced by modifying the shape of one leg of the presser foot as shown in Fig. 7 so that it is pro vided with a downwardly directed pointed end 65, pro duced by forming the groove 66, point 65 holding cord 61 as guide 59 moves from the position shown in Fig. 6 toward the position shown in Fig. 5. This causes the formation of the sharp bends in the cord 61 at the common ends of the loops which may be seen in Figs. 8 and 9 at 68, on the opposite side of the line of stitching 69 from the free portions of the loops 763. The base fabric is shown at 71 and the arrow in Fig. 8 shows the direction of movement of the work through the machine which is, as usual, from front to rear.

As hereinafter explained, the mechanism may be otherwise arranged so as to form the loops on the opposite side of the line of stitching 69 which may be preferred in doing certain types of work.

The operation of the mechanism above described, utilizing a cam formed as shown in Fig. l and rotated once for each ten revolutions of the main shaft of the sewing machine, is such that each cycle of cord feeding operations takes place while ten stitches are being formed. (The number of stitches per cycle can obviously be modified by changing the ratio of gears 28, 29.) Assuming that the cycle starts with guide 59 in the position shown in Fig. 6, which may be called the in position, the guide swings across the needle to the left to its out position, as shown in Fig. 4 while the main shaft of the sewing machine is making about one and a half revolutions. Thus as the machine runs the guide moves out quickly and starts the formation of a loop 70. After a dwell period of about seven stitches, or revolutions of the main shaft, the guide 59 starts in and one and a half stitches later is back at its in position, completing a cycle, immedlately reversing and starting out again as cam follower 41 moves over the high point of cam 26. While the cord is held in the Fig. 6 position it is engaged by one or more stitches which pass through or over it and immediately thereafter it is gripped by point 65 of the presser foot. The size of the loops 70 may be varied by moving the vertical loop-former 62 closer to or further away from presser foot 21.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be construed as limited to the foregoing details of constructron or to their specific arrangement relative to the sewing machine. In particular it is contemplated that the cord feeding arm 56 and guide 5 may be arranged to operate from the opposite side of the presser foot, that IS beneath the arm 11 of the machine, so that the space to the left of the needle is free of obstruction. This would be advantageous where loops are to be formed on wide base fabric which could not pass beneath arm 11 in a fiat condition. The loop-former 62 could likewise be moved to the opposite side of the presser foot and the loops formed on that side. By adding suitable guiding means to the machine for another fabric layer, the loops may be formed between two layers of fabric. Other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claims.

What I claim is:

1. An attachment for a sewing machine of the type having a standard, a work support, an arm, a head, a rotat- 1ng main shaft having a drive pulley at one end, a vertically reciprocating needle driven thereby, and a presser foot, said attachment forming loops of cord-like material on a base fabric and comprising: a first bracket at.- tachable to said head to extend rearwardly thereof and having a vertical bore, a feed shaft rotatably supported in said bore, an actuating arm secured to said shaft; a second bracket attachable to said standard, a cam shaft carried thereby, driving means adapted to connect the cam shaft to the drive pulley end of the main shaft of the machine, a cam on the cam shaft, and means actuated by said cam having a driving connection with said actuating arm; a forwardly extending arm carried by said feed shaft and having a cord-guiding forward end adapted to swing across a vertical plane parallel to the direction of feed in which the needle reciprocates and closely in front of said needle, and loop forming means adapted to be fixed to said presser foot and disposed close to said work support laterally of said plane around which said material .is wrapped by the swinging of said arm to form loops.

2. Mechanism of the type described comprising, in combination, a work support, feeding means including a presser foot for advancing work through a sewing machine, means for forming a line of stitching in said work including a vertically reciprocating needle, a stationary loopformer carried by said presser foot disposed close to the work support and spaced laterally .of the line of stitching formed by the needle, cord-guiding means swingable across the line of stitching and in front of the needle, and means for swinging said means intermittently as the work advances to loop cord-like material around said former and across said line of stitching to be engaged thereby at spaced intervals between which intervals a plurality of stitches are formed.

3. In a sewing machine of the type having a vertically reciprocating needle driven from a rotating main shaft, a presser fact, a work support, and work feeding means; mechanism for laying cord-like material on a base fabric in scallop-shaped loops whose common ends intersect the vertical plane parallel to the direction of feed in which plane the needle reciprocates to form the line of stitching, said mechanism comprising: a cord-guiding arm pivotally supported on a vertical axis rearwardly of said needle and extending forwardly thereof, the forward end of said arm having cord-guiding means positioned to swing from one side of said plane to the other side of said plane and closely in front of the needle, a stationary loop-former carried by said presser foot and spaced laterally of said plane closely adjacent said work support around which said material is carried by said cord guiding means to r s u form a loop, and means for swmgmg said arm rapidly from a position across said plane to a position outwardly of said loop-former and back again at spaced intervals between which there is a period of dwell during which a plurality of stitches are formed between the ends of the s.

Mechanism according to claim 3 wherein said loopforrner comprises a member extending perpendicular to said work support and wherein said means connecting said member with said presser foot is adjustable, whereby its spacing laterally of said plane may be varied to change the size of the loops.

5. Mechanism according to claim 3 wherein said means for swinging said arm is driven from the main shaft of the sewing macliine.

' 6. Mechanis rn according to claim 5 wherein said main shaft drives a continuously rotating cam, and having reduction gears coupling the said shaft to said cam, and drive means actuated by said cam interconnecting a follower associated with the cam and said cord-guiding arm.

' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 544,723 Cornely Aug. 20, 1895 630,456 Henry Aug. 8, 1899 668,264 Pearce u Feb. 19, 1901 773,653 Laubscher Nov. 1, 1904 1,297,437 Parkes Dec. 5, 1916 2,253,731 Seaman Aug. 26, 1941 2,525,312 Prazak et al. Oct 10, 196,0 2,533,293 Sigoda Dec. 12, 1950 

